Coast Guard can't find remaining whales

Vets examine 11 dead ones found in the Keys

Eleven whales discovered dead Sunday on Snipe Point near Key West were examined… (NOAA Fisheries )

December 9, 2013|By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel

Twenty-nine pilot whales last seen in shallows by the Everglades remained missing Monday, as veterinarians began examining the remains of 11 whales discovered dead Sunday on a remote beach in the Florida Keys.

Coast Guard helicopters on Monday found no sign of any surviving whales from the pod of 51 that last week began beaching themselves on the Gulf coast of Everglades National Park. Of those, 22 died and the rest are unaccounted for.

"We don't know what's going on with these whales," said Blair Mase, Southeast stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries, the main federal marine conservation agency. "They may have gone out to sea or there's a good chance they'll be found in the backcountry of the Florida Keys."

The cause of the mass stranding remains a mystery, she said.

"We don't really have any idea why they got here in the first place," she said.

Veterinarians will test samples of the dead whales for pathogens, contaminants and a virus that's been killing dolphins and whales in the Atlantic Ocean. Results will take several weeks.

Navy sonar has been implicated in some strandings, but Mase said she has been in contact with the Navy and no sonar activities had taken place recently in the area.

The dead whales found Sunday in the Florida Keys were discovered huddled together on a beach at Snipe Point, about 10 miles northeast of Key West. Their markings confirmed they were from the same pod caught in the shallows by the park last week.

Although several appeared malnourished, Mase said it's unclear whether that's a cause of their distress or the result of their wanderings far from their deep-ocean habitat.

Anyone seeing pilot whales or whales in distress in that area is asked to call 877-WHALE-HELP.